Principles of Islam
24. Jihad
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24. JIHAD
Jihad means struggle. Any sincere effort for the
cause of religion will be called Jihad. Man’s self
leads him to evil. So waging war with the self is
jihad. Sometimes friends or acquaintances
pressurize you into engaging in activities, which are
not right from the moral standpoint. At that time,
refusing to yield such pressure and sticking firmly
to an upright attitude are forms of jihad.
Exhorting people to goodness and making them
refrain from indecency are tasks entailing a great
struggle. Continuing the dawah campaign whilst
bearing all hardship is also jihad.
If having been treated with bitterness by neighbors
or acquaintances, or after suffering any other kind
of provocation, one refrains from reaction and
retaliation and maintains pleasant relations
unilaterally; this will also be a form of jihad.
There is another kind of jihad which is called ‘qital’
that is, engaging in war at God’s behest at the time
of aggression on the part of the enemies. This jihad
is purely in self-defense in order to counter
